Left Behind
by Cy8erman
Summary: As Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoe press on through Mercy Hospital little do they know that several floors below them another band of survivors is making its way towards the rooftop... and safety. R&R please! Rated T: includes bad language and some violence
1. Chapter 1

"Get in! Get in now!"

"I can't! It's jammed from the other side!"

A strong shoulder slammed into the red metal door and was met with firm resistance.

"Crap. Okay. Sal take the automatic off of Gray and give Bastian your pistol. Gray, come and help us bust this door open."

Sal, a middle aged woman wearing a torn business skirt and blouse with a blood spattered jacket and broken heels, and Bastian, a thirteen year old boy wearing jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers and a cap, crouched and faced away from the sealed door with their weapons raised. Both sat immobile and stared out into empty streets.

The man who had given the orders, a tall, well built black man who went by the name of Dwayne and a former personal trainer to the stars, leaned beside the first speaker, Allan, a short twenty-something man who was built only slightly more athletically than Bastion, and Gray, the old, grizzly biker whose round paunch was composed mostly of muscle.

"On three okay? One... two... th-"

Before he could finish a whooping call echoed through the streets of Fairfield and humanoid silhouettes could be discerned in the red and blue klaxons of the immobile ambulances. Snarls, growls, roars and howls filled the empty streets. In response Bastian launched a bottle into the middle of the hospital lot then threw a match onto the spilled liquid. Flames licked up from the ground and in the dancing light a crowd of people could be seen rushing forward, heedless of the flame.

"Erm... Dwayne. If you could, y'know, hurry it up that'd be great." Bastian turned a nervous smile before facing the incoming hordes and opening fire. Sal joined him and the three men began hammering the door with their shoulders.

Bastian, both clips now empty, threw the pistols to the floor and removed the semi-automatic from his back before joining Sal in spraying the crowd.

Dwayne, his shoulder cracking with each blow finally felt the door give. The sound of tumbling junk preceded the inward swing of the door which left him and the others in a heap on the ground. Dwayne came to his senses first and immediately called to the two gunners to get the hell inside.

Sal pushed Bastian back, screaming at him to get inside. He obeyed and hopped over the desk and into the shelter of the safe room. Sal began to follow, with Dwayne and Gray providing cover.

She entered the room covered in fresh blood and turned to shut the door.

Something long, thick and pink accompanied by a rasping exhalation wrapped around her midriff and, as the door closed, pulled her out.

"NOOO!" Bastian grabbed the door handle and began pushing it down when Gray lifted him away.

"Easy kiddo. She's gone."

Bastian turned, his eyes streaming and punched the round biker in the stomach. Gray hardly flinched before putting the boy down and kneeling beside him. "You lost your ma, huh? Well think of it like this. Now Sal can go tell your Ma you're safe and you're almost out of all this."

Bastian dropped to the ground and leaned against the safe room door. "I'm thirteen, not three."

Before Gray could reply Dwayne placed a hand on his shoulder. "Just leave it Gray. Give him some time."

Gray nodded and walked through the small room and to the opposite door. Dwayne smiled at Bastian and threw him a chocolate bar. "Listen kiddo we all got stuff going on right now. But if we let it, it'll end up getting us killed. We can cry later but for now get some rest."

As Bastian lay on the one military cot, Dwayne joined Gray and Allan near the door. Both of them were looking at the messages on the wall, messages written by former inhabitants of the small room.

Allan was reading something about the government's involvement in the outbreak while Gray was looking at messages left to loved ones.

"Damn there's so many... The people that wrote these, how many do you think are still alive old man?"

Gray shrugged and popped a stick of gum into his mouth. "Dunno. Probably none of them. Look at that one."

The message he indicated looked fairly new and simply said;

_The rooftops your best bet. But its gonna be tough. Arm up._

It was signed 'Zoe x'.

Dwayne read it twice before shrugging. "So what? Whatever happened or was gonna happen to them probably already did."

Gray smiled. "You think? Look at that one."

The second one was a short dirty limerick about Smokers and Witches, followed by an account of the writer's journey to the safehouse.

_I've never hated cities so much! If I ever come across a woman crying again I'm gonna have to shoot her – and that goes for Zoe too!_

It was signed 'Francis,' followed by the date and time. Dwayne stared at the latter for a few moments in silence before checking his watch. "The hell! That was only a few hours ago! They could still be here."

Gray smiled. "Which means we could double our weapons, our able hands and our chances of getting through this piece of shit situation."


	2. Chapter 2

A thick gurgling belch brought Bastian back to reality. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and yawned heavily. Allan turned and pointed to the door through which they had entered the safe room where, through the thin slit in the metal, a large, round figure could be seen standing at the opposite wall.

Bastian quickly recalled the safety seminar he had sat through in school shortly after the first reported outbreak had been contained:

"_The 'Boomer', as the military has dubbed it, vomits on potential prey. This vomit in turn sends any nearby common Infected into a murderous rage. They will do anything necessary to kill that target, and once this is done, the Boomer feeds on the corpse.  
_"_Additionally, the sheer pressure within the Boomer means that should the slightest opposing external force be applied to him, he will literally explode and cover anybody within a two to three metre radius in its bile."_

The Boomer was busily tucking into several scraps of rotten meat while around him the plain Infected went about their own business. Some had curled up on the floor, others leaned on the wall and in the far corner of the reception area two women were fighting with each other.

"Hey Dwayne?"

Bastian turned away from the slit to face the trainer as the Boomer released a long, fart. Dwayne hit a button on the microwave to start it humming and replied with a simple "Mm-hm?"

"What do you think they'll do when we're all gone? I mean gone to the safe zones? They don't eat each other so what'll they do?"

Dwayne joined him at the door and glanced through the slit. The smell of the Boomer's gas caught him and he leapt back and coughed.

"Jesus! Who the hell did he eat?"

Bastian laughed and, when the microwave pinged, went to check it for Dwayne. He opened the door and removed what looked like a frozen lasagne.

"Its still cold. You want I should put it back for a few more minutes?"

There was no answer.

"Dwayne? What do you want me tuh! Mmpf! Gft dha hull ovv mie!"

Allan's hand was clamped over his mouth and Gray pushed past them both to join Dwayne at the door. He drew his own pistol and handed another to Dwayne. Allan turned the boy around and put a finger to his lips. Bastian nodded, although didn't understand why they needed to stay quiet. The doors were locked, they had food and the Infected didn't seem to care that they were there. Hell, even the Boomer was...

And then he realised. The Boomer had stopped eating and only silence came from the other side of the door. No grunts, no breathing, no sickly belches. Just silence. He crept to the ammo table, stocked two weeks before by the army, reloaded his uzi and grabbed another pistol before rejoining the other Survivors.

"Where'd they go Dwayne?"

Dwayne shrugged and peeked out of the slit. "There're still a few out there, but I think those ones are asleep."

Gray sniffed and cocked his pistol. "We should get the hell out of here now! We need to catch up with the others."

Allan and Bastian looked at each other, then at Gray. The boy's jaw dropped and Allan squared his lank, greasy frame against Gray's.

"Um... what others? And why haven't we heard about this?"

Gray shrugged and began looking out of the other door.

Bastian turned to Dwayne and shook his head. "And you were gonna tell us when? Before we moved on upstairs? Or after we find their chewed, gooey bodies?"

"We don't have time for this right now Bastian. I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but we've kinda got our own problems."

He motioned the boy closer and lifted him when he approached. "The top of the door's got a couple of bullet holes in it. See if you can see anything through them."

Bastian nodded and steadied himself before pressing his face to the door. He scanned the reception area and, not seeing anything worth mentioning, squirmed off Dwayne's shoulders. As his feet touched the ground once more the sound of gunfire reached their ears as did the screaming of a young woman.

"Shit!" Dwayne pressed his face to the narrow slit and sure enough could see the flashes of gun fire coming from the street outside and also the screams of someone knee deep in Infected.

"Is that Sal?" Bastian was still having trouble coming to terms with the woman's death.

Allan put his shotgun on the table and joined Dwayne in peering out. "Man... sucks to be her, huh?" Dwayne turned to him and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "No. It sucks to be you. 'Cause your gonna open this door and help us get her in here."

After a couple of moments planning Allan, pale faced and gasping for air, stood behind the heavy metal door and prepared to open it. A quick check over his shoulder beat away any thoughts of retreat as Gray and Dwayne, both standing behind him clutching an automatic weapon in each hand, stared back at him. Bastian standing behind them on a table giggled softly and sighted down his pistol.

"Okay. Here I go."

He pushed the door open and took a step outside.

And he was still alive.

Another step and he heard the footsteps as his comrades followed him. He smiled in relief as the Boomer stood up from behind the reception desk, growled and shot a stream of vomit into his eyes.

The world turned sallow and warped and the only thing he knew was that someone had grabbed his shoulders and was dragging him back. He heard the sound of metal banging and realised that he was in the safe room again.

He brought his hands to eyes and slowly his senses returned to him. He heard and saw the crowd banging on the door and roaring for his blood, their former prey forgotten.

"Thanks guys. I thought I was left for dead. Heh."

Gray narrowed his eyes at the young man and sniffed. "You're not, but she's still out there."

"Okay. Plan B," Dwayne shouted over the roar of the Infected outside and moved closer to the others. "Gray and me are gonna rush through them clear a path for the lady. You two are gonna stay here and keep the room secure. Got it?"

Bastian reloaded his shotgun and smiled in reply. Allan sighed and grudgingly picked up his gun. "Whatever."

Before he could react Dwayne had grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the floor. "You listen to me greasy! This is real. My life, Gray's life, Bastian's life and that woman's life depend on us all working together. If you don't want to work together we got no problem feeding you to that fat ass zombie outside. Do we have an understanding here?"

Allan gulped and nodded slowly. "I can do this."

Dwayne released him and stared at him for a moment. "Okay. We're doing this."

On three Dwayne and Gray burst through the door, throwing Infected backwards. Allan and Bastian opened fire and tore through waves of them in seconds. Any they missed were beaten to a pulp by the two big men.

"Right. Where the hell is she?"

Gray ran to the front door, and carefully looked outside. Except for the dead bodies and immobile ambulances the street appeared empty. Dwayne joined him and pointed out a small outline in a nearby alleyway.

Gray called out in a harsh whisper. "Hey!"

The motion moved closer slightly revealing a tall, attractive woman wearing a white lab coat, glasses and a mini skirt. Her blonde hair had been tied up but was now askew. Smudged make-up smeared her face.

"Is it safe?"

Gray laughed softly and ran towards her, heedless of the black figure that perched atop the roof of the adjacent building. It remained still for a second then in a burst of motion leapt to the next rooftop and bounded towards a lamp post. Its outstretched hands caught the beam and it swung over before flying forwards and down into the open sewer.

The plop of water caught the woman's attention. As Dwayne and Gray crept towards the safe room she turned and began running back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dwayne whispered.

"My research. I think I found a cure."

The two men froze instantly and Dwayne eventually decided to keep an eye on her. He crept towards her as she recovered the papers from the ground. She caught the last piece despite a soft breeze and turned to Dwayne.

"If not a cure, at least a biological weapon which co-"

"I'm sure that's real fascinating. Why don't you tell me about it once we're safe?"

The woman smiled and joined him as he began to head back to the safe room. The air was pierced by a bloodcurdling scream and a thin figure flew upwards out of the open sewer and landed directly on the woman. With brutal, primal cries of glee the figure tore into the woman's flesh with inch long claws.

Dwayne pointed his gun at the hooded man and prepared to fire when the familiar rasping caught his attention. His gun fell from his hands as the thick tongue coiled around him and pulled him off the ground and towards the Smoker.


	3. Chapter 3

Gray turned in an instant, his weapon coming up and his fingers flicking the safety off. His fingers tensed on the trigger, but the spray of bullets went very wide as a violent pain shook his kidneys.  
He turned and came face to face with the Boomer. It aimed a punch to his face which he ducked and left the Boomer, carried by its girth, spinning. He placed his hands on its disgusting, flabby back and pushed it away from him as he glimpsed the nimble figure of Bastian dashing past him, followed closely by Allan. The geek dropped to one knee and pointed his pistol at the still stumbling Boomer. He yelled for Gray to get clear and fired a single shot into the Boomer's swollen gut. Blood, bile and gloop splashed the area around the Boomer, luckily not landing on any of the survivors.

Bastian had not waited. He dashed up to the woman, reaching into his pocket as he did so and removing a switchblade, and flicked the razor sharp point out. With a yell he leapt onto the hooded figure's back and plunged the knife into its back. The air was torn by the earsplitting scream of pain and animal rage emitted by the woman's attacker. It flung an arm out, throwing Bastian back and to the ground and turned on him with an expression that said 'Death' clearer than any words could have. It crouched momentarily before leaping for the fallen boy.

Time froze for Bastian. He could see the talons of the figure as it made its gradual way through the air towards him. They looked incredibly sharp, as did the teeth it bared in frustration, and all Bastian could remember was the look in Jessie's face so many months ago.

They sat next to each other in the school's main hall, as they always did, and gently kicked each other's feet. She turned a smile to him, her dark red hair swimming around her green eyes as the principal droned on and on about standard quarantine procedures, self defence tips, and the behaviour of the Infected.

"_-erally explode and cover anybody within a two to three metre radius in its bile. Next,"_ the image being projected onto the wall changed from the obese and swollen image of a woman with the B-Strain of the virus to a young muscular man crouched on all fours.

"_Next, we have the**JIMBO! THROW THAT AND I'LL HAVE YOU IN DETENTION ALL WEEK MISTER!** Now, next we have the H-Strain. The 'Hunter,' to give it its military designation, is the complete opposite to the 'Boomer'. While the latter fulfils a sort of jackal position, hanging back and picking off the spoils, the Hunter is most definitely the lion. The H-Strain of the virus mutates the subject in a beneficial way. The musculature of the individual is enhanced several times beyond that of a normal human, allowing Hunters to leap vast distances and pounce unsuspecting and misbehaving children before anyone can save them. Once they have their prey pinned they immediately begin tearing chunks out of them which they throw to the rest of the Infected. It is important to remember that**RIGHT! I WARNED YOU JIMBO!**"_

A huge, hairy figure suddenly crashed into the Hunter mid-leap and Bastian turned to see Gray grappling with the predator on the ground. It slashed, and bit, and screamed as it fought, but it was clear that Gray held the advantage. While the Hunter was fast and strong, it only held the upper hand when it could use speed or momentum to lend it extra strength. In a clear one on one, Gray's brute strength was dominating.  
He pounded its face and the Hunter began trying to crawl away. Gray caught its ankle and dragged it back, taking a slash across his face as he did, and shifted his grip to the things head. The Hunter screeched in pain as Gray slowly, and sickeningly, twisted its head round until he heard a satisfactory and wet _snap_ when the spine broke.

He exhaled deeply and kicked Bastian's knife to him. "Y'did good kid. Just about saved her li-" Gray stopped as Dwayne's chokes caught his ears. "Its... _hack... _kill... killing.... meee!" Gray rushed over to the big man and tried to pull the tongue off his body. "Hold on, buddy!"

Bastian grabbed his knife and leapt to his feet. He rushed to the tongue and prepared to plunge his knife into it but was stopped by Gray.

"Wait kiddo!" Gray left Dwayne and joined Bastian. His thick, gloved hands, clamped around the tongue and he motioned Bastian to join him. "Allan, missy, get over here and help!" They obeyed, and moments later all four of them had their hands around the tongue and were pulling with all their might. There was some resistance, but seconds later there was a thud from a dumpster across the street and the tongue went lax. Dwayne dropped to his knees and gasped for air while the others followed the tongue as it reeled itself in.

Dwayne, head pounding and heart hammering in his chest, heard Gray let out a whoop followed by the sound of something being hit with a trashcan and the others came back dragging the limp body of the Smoker by its tongue. Gray's voice was now high and his words were drawled out in a thick Texan accent. "Dwaaaaayne! Christmas dun' come early for ya!"  
He threw the Smoker to the ground, a puff of green mist escaping its lips in a small _oof_ of expelled air as it landed.

Dwayne, still breathing rapidly, looked at it in disgust before planting a kick in its swollen face. "You think its the one that took Sal?"Allan shrugged and spat at it. "Who knows? But its close enough for me."

"And me," Gray added softly.

"Me too." Bastian's cap was low over his face, the peak hiding his eyes while tears dripped from his chin. His knife was in his hand and he ran a finger along the flat of it and the look in his eyes would have scared any Infected away.


End file.
